Palm Oil Detectives

2025-04-05 15:50:00

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Near Threatened

Extant (resident)

Belize; Venezuela, Bolivia

Extant (possibly breeding)

Argentina; Bolivia, Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago.

Possibly extinct

Costa Rica

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The vibrant Orange-breasted #Falcon Falco deiroleucus soars through the skies of Central and #SouthAmerica. With their striking orange and black plumage and powerful and agile hunting skills, these falcons are truly a marvel to behold. Sadly, these #birds face significant threats from #palmoil, #goldmining, #soy and #meat deforestation. You can help protect these magnificent birds every time you shop. Make sure that you #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottGold and #BoycottMeat to help them survive! It’s the #Boycott4Wildlife.

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Powerful rulers of the skies in #Colombia #Brazil and #Ecuador, Orange-breasted Falcons 🦅 face threats from #palmoil #meat #soy and #gold #deforestation across their range. Fight for them when you shop #Boycottpalmoil 🚫#BoycottGold 🪙 #Boycott4Wildlife🌳 https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8tM

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DYK Orange-breasted 🦅 Falcon’s striking orange 🧡 and black 🖤 plumage helps their courtship displays? 💕Sadly, these beautiful #birds are under threat from #palmoil #soy and #gold #deforestation. Help them and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌍✨ https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8tM

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https://youtu.be/fO7KLTqyS68

Appearance & Behaviour

These falcons are known for their incredible hunting prowess. They are agile fliers, capable of high-speed pursuits and sudden, sharp turns to catch their prey. Their striking orange and black plumage not only serves as a visual treat but also plays a role in their courtship displays.

The Orange-breasted Falcon is a medium-sized bird of prey, measuring about 35-40 cm (14-16 inches) in length. Males weigh between 325-425 grams (11-15 ounces), while females are larger, weighing between 550-700 grams (19-25 ounces). Their distinctive plumage features a rich and vibrant coloured orange breast that contrasts to their black wings and back. Both sexes have similar plumage, but females are larger. These falcons are known for their robust and stocky build and large heads and talons, which make them powerful hunters stalking the skies.

Threats

• Deforestation for palm oil, soy, gold mining and cattle ranching
• Human persecution and hunting
• Pesticide use in agriculture, which affects their prey base
• Competition for nest sites with Black Vultures
• Impact of Africanised bees on nesting sites

Empower yourself to make a difference. Together, we can fight for the survival of the Orange-breasted Falcon by making mindful choices. #BoycottPalmOil and support wildlife-friendly products. Share this page and join the movement to protect our precious wildlife. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Habitat

The Orange-breasted Falcon is found in tropical forests and savannas across Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. They prefer habitats with tall trees and open spaces that allow for their high-speed hunting. They are most commonly found in Belize, Guatemala, and Panama, though their range has significantly reduced over time.

Diet

These falcons are carnivorous, primarily feeding on other birds and small mammals. They are skilled hunters, often capturing prey mid-flight with their sharp talons. Their diet includes a wide variety of birds and occasionally bats.

Mating and breeding

Orange-breasted Falcons typically nest in tall trees or on cliff ledges. They lay 2-3 eggs, which are incubated by the female for about 30-34 days. Both parents are involved in feeding and caring for the chicks until they are ready to fledge, approximately 40-45 days after hatching.

Support Orange-breasted Falcon by going vegan and boycotting palm oil, gold and meat when you shop, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

BirdLife International. 2016. Falco deiroleucus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22696516A93569126. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696516A93569126.en. Accessed on 05 June 2024.

Orange-breasted Falcon. (2024). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange-breasted_falcon

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How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Keep reading

Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Keep reading

Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

Keep reading

Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

Keep reading

Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

Keep reading

Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

Keep reading

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Read more

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#animals #Belize #Bird #birdOfPrey #birds #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #Colombia #deforestation #Ecuador #Falcon #ForgottenAnimals #gold #goldmining #Guatamala #Honduras #hunting #meat #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #Mexico #NearThreatenedSpecies #OrangeBreastedFalconFalcoDeiroleucus #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #SouthAmerica #soy #soyDeforestation #Suriname #Venezuela #VulnerableSpecies

Palm Oil Detectives | Auckland

Palm Oil Detectives, Auckland, New Zealand. 610 likes · 16 talking about this. A collective of like-minded artists, writers, photographers, musicians and wildlife conservationists who share and...

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Palm Oil Detectives

2025-03-29 15:10:00

Demystifying the Strange Beauty of the Proboscis Monkey’s Large Nose

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Of all the #monkey species around the world, one stands out with its large, bizarre nose. In male proboscis monkeys, their bulbous noses will often hang past their mouths.

But why did they evolve such a strange feature? Are they a visual sign of health and status to potential female mates, and to other males? Or did they evolve to help the monkeys make honks and other loud sounds? New groundbreaking #research has much to reveal about the mysterious large nose of the Proboscis Monkey!

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Fascinating and oddly beautiful Proboscis #Monkeys of #Malaysia #Indonesia, have webbed feet and live in harems. Now #researchers discovered why they have such long noses! Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6

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Gentle Proboscis #Monkeys of #Borneo are famous for their long noses. Until recently the reasons why baffled scientists, not anymore! They’re threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. You can help when you Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6

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Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Proboscis monkey side view with a large nose Slavianin/Shutterstock
In our new study, published in Scientific Reports, we have deepened our understanding of these enlarged nasal structures by investigating what lies beneath: the structures in the skull.

Our findings help to explain how these noses function as visual and acoustic signals of health and status. They also add to a growing body of evidence that shows researchers can use close examinations of skulls to glean information about primate social behaviour.

A battle of noses

One of the largest monkey species in Asia, proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) are endemic to the island of Borneo. They live in coastal mangroves, peat swamps and riverine forests, and have an unusual diet made up mostly of leaves.

They can swim quite well and have webbed fingers and toes. They typically live in harem groups, made up of a single adult male (who tends to have a large, bulbous nose), some adult females and their offspring.

Males don’t often get the opportunity to attract a harem until they reach middle age. These older, dominant and large-nosed males don’t easily tolerate other large-nosed males, often trying to ward them off aggressively with deep honks and “nasal roars” – loud calls they make using their noses.

Young adult males with smaller noses often live in all-male bachelor groups, and don’t tend to fight aggressively with each other. When these bachelor males get older and become large (and large-nosed) enough to compete with males that are part of a breeding group, they are in a position to overthrow the tenured male. Females then often choose to form a harem group with this new, high-status male.
The nose is considerably smaller in female proboscis monkeys. Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock

What’s behind the nose?

We investigated the size and shape of the proboscis monkey nasal cavity. That’s the bony chamber of the skull that sits behind the fleshy nose. Our goal was to find out if the size and shape of the nasal aperture – the front part of the cavity, where the fleshy nose tissue attaches – can tell us more about why these peculiar appendages evolved.

Previous research that looked at the bulbous nose in males suggests it evolved to advertise status. In our new research, we wanted to better understand how this could be the case, this time using data taken from the skull.

We used 3D surface models, downloaded from a public repository, to take size and shape measurements from 33 adult proboscis monkey skulls. We compared these with the adult skulls of king colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and crab-eating macaques, three old world monkey species.
Crab-eating macaques have tiny noses by comparison. Erik Klietsch/Shutterstock
We chose some measurements to quantify the nasal cavity, and others to quantify the nasal aperture in all the species. We also looked at tooth wear, since older adult monkeys have more worn teeth than younger adults. That would allow us to find out if older adult males had a larger nasal aperture than younger adult males.

Better honks

If male proboscis monkeys have a different nasal cavity shape to females, and a unique shape compared to the other monkey species, it would support the idea these enhanced nasal structures – both the fleshy nose and the cavity behind it – evolved to allow for more effective honks and nasal roars.

That was indeed what we found. The shape of the male nasal cavity was low and long compared to females. This allows males to build up resonance (sound vibration) in their nasal cavities, allowing them to emit deeper and louder calls through their noses.

The nasal aperture shape was also different between the sexes. In males, it looks a bit like an eggplant, while in females it looks more like an upside-down pear. This unique opening shape in males allows for higher intensity sounds to be emitted through the nose.
3D model screenshots of a male proboscis monkey (left) and a female proboscis monkey (right). Male nasal aperture size is 29% larger than that of females, and males and females differ in their nasal aperture shape. Katharine Balolia/Morphosource Media (USNM521841; ID 000345556 and USNM142224; ID 000345144)
The sex differences in cavity shape were also larger than what we found in other old world monkey species. This further supports the idea that the nasal cavity of male proboscis monkeys underwent an evolutionary change for the purpose of making certain sounds.

Lastly, the age. Older proboscis monkey males really do have larger nasal apertures than younger adult males, but the cavity itself didn’t increase with age. This supports the idea that the large noses act as a visual signal. It’s also consistent with the fleshy nose size increasing in middle-aged or older adult males, which we know from behavioural studies in the wild.
Making honks and nasal roars really does seem to be the evolutionary purpose of these fleshy noses. Nokuro/Shutterstock
Our evidence from the skull allows us to better understand how nasal structures in male proboscis monkeys evolved for both acoustic and visual signalling.

The more we know about how regions of the skull function as social signals, the better chance we have of reconstructing extinct primate social behaviour using fossilised skull remains.

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Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Keep reading

Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Keep reading

Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

Keep reading

Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

Keep reading

Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

Keep reading

Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

Keep reading

---

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Read more

---

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #animalRights #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #Indonesia #Malaysia #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus #research #Researchers #SouthEastAsia

King Colobus, Colobus polykomos | New England Primate Conservancy

The king colobus (Colobus polykomos) is native to the tropical lowland and montane rainforests on the western coast of Africa, from Gambia to Côte d’Ivoire.

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